Pokemon Sword And Shield: Free Galarian Meowth Now Available For A Limited Time

Pokemon Sword and Shield's first expansion, The Isle of Armor, launches next week, but you can snag one more free Pokemon before then. The Pokemon Company is giving away a free Galarian Meowth with its Hidden Ability, along with a handful of valuable items.

Galatian Meowth's Hidden Ability is Unnerve, which prevents the opposing Pokemon from eating a held berry. This week's free item bundle, meanwhile, includes 100 large Exp. Candies--good for leveling a Pokemon up quickly--as well as 50 Big Gold Nuggets, which can be sold at shops for a tidy sum.

To claim the freebies, select Mystery Gift from the menu screen and follow these steps:

• Select Get a Gift
• Select the Get via internet option
• Follow the prompts to connect online and download the Pokemon and item bundle

Like previous free Pokemon, Galarian Meowth will only be available for a limited time, so you'll need to claim it before June 16. You can read more details about the distribution on the official Pokemon website.

Meowth isn't the only free Pokemon available right now for Sword and Shield. You can also claim all three Galar starters with their Hidden Abilities via Pokemon Home. If you transfer a Pokemon from Sword or Shield to the cloud service, you'll find the Galar starters waiting for you in your gift box.

The Isle of Armor launches on June 17. This expansion takes players to the eponymous island, where they'll discover a variety of new and returning Pokemon not available in Galar proper, including the new Galarian and Gigantamax forms. The expansion also introduces a new storyline, characters, items, and more. The second Sword and Shield expansion, The Crown Tundra, is slated to launch later this fall.